Friday, 16 April 2010
Bettie Page - FBI consultant
When a 1957 police drug raid on a Harlem apartment turned up a cache of obscene magazines and photos, paddles, a riding crop, a whip, and lengths of chain, rawhide, and rope, FBI agents contacted Page for some expert guidance. Specifically, they wanted to know if the apartment was a photo studio where obscene material was produced. According to the below memo sent to Hoover, Page told investigators that she “had never heard of that type of photography being made in Harlem.” An agent reported that Page also advised that the “flagellation and bondage pictures that she had posed for” were shot “in photographic studios or photographers apartments.”
The seized porn, which included “two books and four pictures depicting Betty Page in various poses,” was shipped to Washington for “examination” by the FBI Laboratory, according to a second memo. At some point, agents planned to quiz the apartment’s inhabitants about “what the source of these items was, and to what use they were putting them to.”
See the documents
New progressive Tory policies #1
Cameron comes out against substitute prescribing for opiate addicts?
The triumph of a lone skeptic...
It's finally over for Simon Singh - the BCA is no longer pursuing him for defamation.
It's good and bad, though, since the stupidest law in the world remains unchallenged, and anyone so inclined can use the british libel law to silence any critics, right or wrong...
It's good and bad, though, since the stupidest law in the world remains unchallenged, and anyone so inclined can use the british libel law to silence any critics, right or wrong...
They dropped the case, and it’s over.
Well, kinda. Actually, there are a lot of unresolved things here. One is that Simon is out over £100,000 of his own money. Had this gone to court and he won, the BCA would have had to pay his expenses.
That’s a pretty strong incentive on their part to have dropped the case, not-so-incidentally. I’ll note that fellow skeptic Ben Goldacre says Simon may go after the BCA for costs, something I would dearly love to see.
Second, the libel laws in the UK are still truly awful. I hope that the libel reform groups there keep the pressure on the government to look over those laws and drag them from the 17th into the 21st century. Don’t forget to show your support (even if you’re not from the UK)!
And third, I wonder how this will affect the BCA. Will they be more careful? Will they review their practices, going over them carefully to see which ones are backed by scientific reviews and testing, and which ones may be nothing more than thinly-veiled nonsense that not only do not help but can in fact harm or even kill patients?
They are all the fugn same
LaraABCNews Just stumbled on fact that Anwar Al Awlaki, Yemeni-American terrorist cleric, was arrested for soliciting prostitutes in San Diego in 90s
The Perils of Plastic
TIME Magazine recently highlighted “The Perils of Plastic.” Here’s what they have to say about Bisphenol A (BPA), the type of plastic used to bottle water:
What It Is: A chemical used in plastic production
Found In: Water bottles, baby bottles, plastic wraps, food packaging
Health Hazards: The government’s National Toxicology Program has concluded that there is some concern about brain and behavioral effects on fetuses and young children at current exposure levels
What You Should Know: Switch to glass products when possible
Thank you to each and every one of you
The stats for the last year
Sometime in the next 24 hours 'Exile' is about to get it's 250,000th visitor.
What can I say?
I started this blog on the last day of September 2008 after losing my job and I never in my wildest dreams thought that it would ever have got this far.
So to everyone of you that visits all I can say is "thanx"
Mona
XXX
Concertgoers VS record hoarders - who has more friends?
Once again, science proves what would appear obvious: people who have rich lives are more interesting and are more liked than people who are centered around their collecting habits (sadly, I seem to be part of that group, which would mean I am headed straight for depression unless I start getting out some more soon).
Van Boven has spent a decade studying the social costs and benefits of pursuing happiness through the acquisition of life experiences such as traveling and going to concerts versus the purchase of material possessions like fancy cars and jewelry.
"We have found that material possessions don't provide as much enduring happiness as the pursuit of life experiences," Van Boven said.
The "take home" message in his most recent study, which appears in this month's edition of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, is that not only will investing in material possessions make us less happy than investing in life experiences, but that it often makes us less popular among our peers as well.
Fuckers Inc.
Pope Benedict says Catholic Church must 'do penance'
Here (and I speak as a very lapsed catholic) is a major problem. The pope and the hierarchy do not see raping a kid as a crime they see it as a sin for which you can atone...)
Pin up of the day
An ash smeared naked Hindu holy man, poses on a motorcycle during the main Royal Bath at the Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar, India
Andrew WK: 'The return of the girl behind My Destiny'
My song My Destiny was deemed so frightening it earned me a juvenile restraining order. So what happened when the girl who inspired it got in touch?
After my high school crush had taken out a juvenile restraining order on me (read the story about how that happened here), I followed the restrictions of my punishment and didn't try to call or see her. I released my frustrations and pent-up urges in less romantic ways and got into vandalism and shoplifting. That ended up escalating into mail fraud and landed me in trouble with the police again. I had impersonated a local Michigan law-firm and wrote a fake letter on behalf of the underground cartoonist, Robert Crumb, posing as his lawyer. This all blew up in my face but I managed to get out of it because I was only 18 years old. To cut a long story short, I decided it was time to get out of the area for a clean break. I moved to New York City and soon signed up to do Andrew WK. I wrote this song, called I Want To Kill, shortly after arriving in the city.
Despite moving to a new area, I still couldn't stop thinking about the girl behind the song My Destiny. Part of me was just scared of getting in trouble again, but my infatuation was still very much alive; I had just pushed it deep inside me, and it was a matter of not letting it out. I got pretty good at controlling it, mainly by occupying myself entirely with Andrew WK. But one night, I saw her again, and all my pent-up feelings were let loose. Here's how it happened…
After we launched Andrew WK, my career immediately took off – it was an overnight sensation. I was on TV, on the radio, in magazines and newspapers, and touring around the world playing concerts. It was getting to the point where a lot of people I grew up with were seeing me around and shocked that "the troubled kid" from school was now some sort of "rock star". I was pretty low-key about any of the celebrity or fame I was receiving, but I couldn't deny the excitement of all the attention. On our first big US tour, we played every major city. When we played in Cleveland, Ohio, I heard a rumor that the girl was coming to the show. Of course, my heart skipped a beat and a lump formed in my throat. I was terrified but also thrilled. I refused to believe she was actually going to show up, but I was aware that she had moved to Cleveland to go to art school, so it was possible. I just couldn't believe that she would want to see me after all I had put her through. I figured she hated my guts and would never want to see me again, so I put her out of my mind.
We played our concert and had a great show. After, I was signing autographs for the audience in the parking lot behind the venue, when all of a sudden, there she was. It was probably the most scared I have ever felt in my life. I don't know how to explain the feeling. It was a mixture of total terror and absolute happiness. She made me almost sick with lust. I tried to avoid looking at her as best I could – but it was extremely hard to resist. The whole experience was overwhelming, and I excused myself from the rest of the fans and basically ran to my tour bus. After all, I still had the restraining order hanging over me (I wasn't quite 21 yet, which is when it ended).
After trying to catch my breath and slow my racing heart, I heard a knock on the door. It was her! I couldn't believe this was happening. What do I do!? I had a choice – I could either ignore her knocking (like she had ignored my knocking all those years earlier) and just let this miracle moment pass, or I could muster up my courage and answer the door. Maybe now, because I was doing well with Andrew WK and having success, she would give me the time of day! I gave myself a big mental pep-talk and answered the door.
"Hello," I said. I could barely talk – my mouth was so dry, and I was shaking with such force that the words were choppy. "Hello, Andrew," she said.
I invited her onto the bus and into the private back lounge, where it could be just her and me. I felt dizzy. My eyes were blurry and my ears were kind of ringing. My heart was beating so hard that I felt like I was having a heart attack. Still, I kept telling myself, "You can do this. You have to do this. This is what you wanted. This is your dream come true." We made our way into the back of the tour bus and I closed the door behind us. I was shaking, sweating, and felt like I was about to puke. I'm sure she could tell, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she sat down next to me on the bench seat and looked into my eyes.
"It's great to see you after all these years," she said. "I want to apologise for getting you in so much trouble back in high school. I think that song you wrote is really sweet, but back when I was younger, I was too freaked out to handle it or appreciate it."
I couldn't believe what she was saying! Here she was apologising to me! "No!" I said. "It's me that wants to apologise to you! I am so embarrassed about that song and that I was so obsessed with you. I'm really sorry for being so stupid back then."
"It's OK," she said. "We were both really young. Plus, you've obviously grown up a lot. You're doing really well now with your music and I think it's really cool."
What happened next was probably the most shocking, terrifying and awful experience I've ever had with a girl. All of sudden, just when I felt like everything was going great, I felt my nervousness intensify to a sickening degree. The room started spinning and my heart started beating harder than ever. I really felt like I was going to die – I couldn't catch my breath. The last thing I remember is that my head started to throb and my stomach started to hurt really bad – I couldn't see or hear anything. I blacked out.
I woke up in a hotel bedroom with my tour manager and some of my band standing around. What the hell had happened? Why aren't I on the bus? Was it all a dream? Where is she?
Turns out, I had experienced a severe anxiety attack and my body had shut down. If that wasn't bad enough, when I lost consciousness I also accidentally went to the bathroom in my pants. All of this happened right in front of her and, of course, she freaked out like crazy. She ran out of the bus and got security from the venue to call an ambulance. She thought I had died and was really scared. The medics determined I was fine, just a little stressed out, and took me to our hotel and gave me some fluids to rehydrate me after all the diarrhoea. I don't remember anything except blackness and then waking up in the hotel.
I never got the girl's phone number or had any way to follow up with her. I asked the venue security if they had seen her and they told me she left in a hurry. That was the last time I saw her and have never seen her again since.
I've obviously not told this story to many people except my closest friends. Publishing this is a part of the emotional therapy program I've been doing. Letting out these painful and humiliating experiences is supposed to be healing, so I'm going with it. Looking back now, I feel like maybe me passing out at that perfect moment was the universe's way of punishing me for what I did to the girl with My Destiny in high school. It was the ultimate golden opportunity and my body couldn't take advantage of it. I guess karma really is a bitch.
'One night, I saw her again, and all my pent-up feelings were let loose' ... Andrew WK in 2001. Photograph: guardian.co.uk
Despite moving to a new area, I still couldn't stop thinking about the girl behind the song My Destiny. Part of me was just scared of getting in trouble again, but my infatuation was still very much alive; I had just pushed it deep inside me, and it was a matter of not letting it out. I got pretty good at controlling it, mainly by occupying myself entirely with Andrew WK. But one night, I saw her again, and all my pent-up feelings were let loose. Here's how it happened…
After we launched Andrew WK, my career immediately took off – it was an overnight sensation. I was on TV, on the radio, in magazines and newspapers, and touring around the world playing concerts. It was getting to the point where a lot of people I grew up with were seeing me around and shocked that "the troubled kid" from school was now some sort of "rock star". I was pretty low-key about any of the celebrity or fame I was receiving, but I couldn't deny the excitement of all the attention. On our first big US tour, we played every major city. When we played in Cleveland, Ohio, I heard a rumor that the girl was coming to the show. Of course, my heart skipped a beat and a lump formed in my throat. I was terrified but also thrilled. I refused to believe she was actually going to show up, but I was aware that she had moved to Cleveland to go to art school, so it was possible. I just couldn't believe that she would want to see me after all I had put her through. I figured she hated my guts and would never want to see me again, so I put her out of my mind.
We played our concert and had a great show. After, I was signing autographs for the audience in the parking lot behind the venue, when all of a sudden, there she was. It was probably the most scared I have ever felt in my life. I don't know how to explain the feeling. It was a mixture of total terror and absolute happiness. She made me almost sick with lust. I tried to avoid looking at her as best I could – but it was extremely hard to resist. The whole experience was overwhelming, and I excused myself from the rest of the fans and basically ran to my tour bus. After all, I still had the restraining order hanging over me (I wasn't quite 21 yet, which is when it ended).
After trying to catch my breath and slow my racing heart, I heard a knock on the door. It was her! I couldn't believe this was happening. What do I do!? I had a choice – I could either ignore her knocking (like she had ignored my knocking all those years earlier) and just let this miracle moment pass, or I could muster up my courage and answer the door. Maybe now, because I was doing well with Andrew WK and having success, she would give me the time of day! I gave myself a big mental pep-talk and answered the door.
"Hello," I said. I could barely talk – my mouth was so dry, and I was shaking with such force that the words were choppy. "Hello, Andrew," she said.
I invited her onto the bus and into the private back lounge, where it could be just her and me. I felt dizzy. My eyes were blurry and my ears were kind of ringing. My heart was beating so hard that I felt like I was having a heart attack. Still, I kept telling myself, "You can do this. You have to do this. This is what you wanted. This is your dream come true." We made our way into the back of the tour bus and I closed the door behind us. I was shaking, sweating, and felt like I was about to puke. I'm sure she could tell, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she sat down next to me on the bench seat and looked into my eyes.
"It's great to see you after all these years," she said. "I want to apologise for getting you in so much trouble back in high school. I think that song you wrote is really sweet, but back when I was younger, I was too freaked out to handle it or appreciate it."
I couldn't believe what she was saying! Here she was apologising to me! "No!" I said. "It's me that wants to apologise to you! I am so embarrassed about that song and that I was so obsessed with you. I'm really sorry for being so stupid back then."
"It's OK," she said. "We were both really young. Plus, you've obviously grown up a lot. You're doing really well now with your music and I think it's really cool."
What happened next was probably the most shocking, terrifying and awful experience I've ever had with a girl. All of sudden, just when I felt like everything was going great, I felt my nervousness intensify to a sickening degree. The room started spinning and my heart started beating harder than ever. I really felt like I was going to die – I couldn't catch my breath. The last thing I remember is that my head started to throb and my stomach started to hurt really bad – I couldn't see or hear anything. I blacked out.
I woke up in a hotel bedroom with my tour manager and some of my band standing around. What the hell had happened? Why aren't I on the bus? Was it all a dream? Where is she?
Turns out, I had experienced a severe anxiety attack and my body had shut down. If that wasn't bad enough, when I lost consciousness I also accidentally went to the bathroom in my pants. All of this happened right in front of her and, of course, she freaked out like crazy. She ran out of the bus and got security from the venue to call an ambulance. She thought I had died and was really scared. The medics determined I was fine, just a little stressed out, and took me to our hotel and gave me some fluids to rehydrate me after all the diarrhoea. I don't remember anything except blackness and then waking up in the hotel.
I never got the girl's phone number or had any way to follow up with her. I asked the venue security if they had seen her and they told me she left in a hurry. That was the last time I saw her and have never seen her again since.
I've obviously not told this story to many people except my closest friends. Publishing this is a part of the emotional therapy program I've been doing. Letting out these painful and humiliating experiences is supposed to be healing, so I'm going with it. Looking back now, I feel like maybe me passing out at that perfect moment was the universe's way of punishing me for what I did to the girl with My Destiny in high school. It was the ultimate golden opportunity and my body couldn't take advantage of it. I guess karma really is a bitch.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
CNN Sues iReporter For Insisting He Works at CNN
CNN built its iReport platform as a kind of YouTube for news: Readers report on their own news stories, which they can upload onto CNN.com. Now CNN is suing one of those iReporters for claiming he works for CNN.
Robert Paisola is getting slapped with a lawsuit from CNN, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Paisola is a Salt Lake City, Utah man who frequently identifies himself as a "senior iReporter for CNN." We left phone and email messages for Paisola and will update as soon as we hear back from him.
The network is alleging that Paisola's Twitter page includes a CNN-stylized logo and that his LinkedIn page falsely states that "Robert is credentialed by CNN iReport."
We did some more digging and don't see the CNN logo on Paisola's Twitter page anymore. But his Twitter bio states that he is a "Debt Collector Abuse Advocate, Timeshare Scam Protector, Providing YOU with News YOU CAN USE from Robert Paisola CNN."
But on his LinkedIn page Paisola lists himself as "credentialed" by CNN:
Paisola has other strange misinformation posted on his LinkedIn page. He claims that he is the CEO of Western Capital Multimedia, and that the company acquired Condé Nast's Portfolio Magazine and Allure magazine. Condé Nast's Portfolio print publication was shuttered in August 2009 and its website was acquired by American City Business Journals. Allure is still owned and printed by Condé Nast.
Paisola has other strange misinformation posted on his LinkedIn page. He claims that he is the CEO of Western Capital Multimedia, and that the company acquired Condé Nast's Portfolio Magazine and Allure magazine. Condé Nast's Portfolio print publication was shuttered in August 2009 and its website was acquired by American City Business Journals. Allure is still owned and printed by Condé Nast.
He also claims that he is a "regular contributor" to BusinessWeek, CNN, Sirius XM, The Wall Street Journal and NPR. But we can't find his byline at any of those publications.
Here is the excerpt from Paisola's LinkedIn:
We requested a comment from CNN, but they have not gotten back to us yet. Here's a video of Paisola, in which he promotes his services to help fight off debt collectors. He claims he is "very direct."
We requested a comment from CNN, but they have not gotten back to us yet. Here's a video of Paisola, in which he promotes his services to help fight off debt collectors. He claims he is "very direct."
[Republished from www.businessinsider.com]
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